Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

While working on formatting the VHS and Blu-ray video to get the subtitles and closed captioning for the film's version of Scene 177 (which is very different from the script's version - but that's not what's important at the moment), I just discovered something I never noticed before. Something very disturbing regarding the Blu-ray, the Amazon Video, and the DVD versions of the film's version of Scene 176 (which is also very different from the script's version - but that's not what's important at the moment). On those three versions there is an edit that does not appear in the VHS version - nor did it appear during the 1977 CBS showing, the tape of which I just listened to to make sure. And I'll get into exactly what that edit is after I've had the chance to prepare video evidence of it...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Actually it's not as disturbing as I thought it was. The video is the same - it's the scoring that's different, and an edit in the scoring is what made me think an edit in the video had also been made. But as we know, there are many differences when it comes to the scoring of the VHS and Blu-ray versions of the film. But I'll still make videos to illustrate the difference. And it's funny that I never noticed the difference until today. But then how often have I said that no matter how many times you've watched something, it's still possible to notice something you'd missed previously? 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Something I still haven't stopped wondering about:

... I didn't really notice until today that Claire has made five sandwiches for herself and Alex (or at least I hope they're not all for Alex).

         
         

Aren't five sandwiches a bit much for two people? And especially at two in the morning? But then, maybe driving from NY to Collinwood works up a big appetite.    ...

And this time they look like they're all ham. Maybe Quentin and Alex wiped out all their tuna. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to Scene 175, something that's very interesting about the script and worth revisiting:

...

DISSOLVE TO: 175    EXT - COTTAGE - NIGHT - WIDE ANGLE                 175        It is later now.  The house is in darkness.  The        jeep is no longer there.  HOLD FOR A MOMENT, then        start a VERY SLOW ZOOM IN.

...

...

It's interesting that for Scene 175 there's a reference to a jeep (presumably actually Gerard's truck) no longer being there when DC actually had to add to his script that Gerard was watching Claire and Alex in Scene 173. Apparently Gerard watching must have been a part of the script but was accidentally left out somewhere along the way.

...

And it must have been left out at least as early as the March 10th version of the script because DC's added reference to Gerard watching doesn't appear in Grayson's copy of the script either...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Picking up with what I said I discovered yesterday, this is how the pertinent portion of Scene 176 plays in the VHS version of NoDS -

- with the scoring playing completely smoothly - but this is how the Blu-ray and every other version plays (pay attention to the 23 second mark) -

- with an obvious cut in the scoring.

The interesting thing is that discovering this has jogged my memory because I'm pretty sure either I read somewhere or I heard at one of Darren's NoDS presentations or both that originally when Angelique appears in the Jenkins cottage she's a bit further down the hallway than we're familiar with. The removal of that bit of footage would explain the cut in the scoring. Though that one is hardly the only cut made to this sequence because as has been pointed out previously, there are three quite obvious cuts made in Scene 177...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As I brought up the other day, Scene 176 is very different in the film compared to the script. The script has -

...

DISSOLVE TO: 176    INT - COTTAGE LIVING ROOM - NIGHT                  176        The room is in darkness except for the glowing embers        in the fireplace.  CAMERA SLOWLY PANS THE ROOM, then        starts to TRUCK DOWN THE HALLWAY.  Through the open        bedroom door at the end of the hall, Claire and Alex        can be seen sleeping in their twin beds.  CAMERA        CONTINUES TO TRUCK, ENTERING THE ROOM.

...

- and about the only thing that survives in the film from the script is that Scene 176 takes place in the Living Room of the Jenkins cottage - the events that take place in the room are very different, as is easily seen in the excerpt from Scene 176 posted above- and Scene 177 is also very different, but more on that later - so perhaps what we're going to deal with next is best thought of as a Scene 176A, even though no such designation is made in the script, but then, nothing that we're about to deal with is actually in the script.

So, things start off with Claire in bed asleep in her room - and after she wakes up and realizes Alex isn't with her, she delivers an unscripted, "Alex, come to bed." - and that's reflected by both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

- and after that Claire asks an unscripted, "What time is it?" - and that's also reflected by both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

To be continued...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping the scene up:

Getting no response from Alex, Claire gives an unscripted call to him, which both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

- reflect - and after there's still no response, Claire suddenly realizes something odd is going on - and after she gets up and looks in the Living Room, she sees what's happening to Alex and screams out an unscripted, "Alex!" - and that's also reflected by both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

End of scene.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A reminder of how different Scene 177 is in the script vs. the film:

...

177    EXT - COTTAGE BEDROOM - NIGHT                      177        as the CAMERA TRUCKS IN ON the sleeping Alex, all        of the SOUND SLOWLY DISAPPEARS until it seems as if        the sound track itself has been removed.  The feel-        ing this creates is one of oppressive dead air.        When we are on ALEX' EXTREME CLOSE-UP, HOLD as he        begins to writhe and thrash about.  All the following        ACTION WILL BE IN SLOW MOTION.  Finally, clutching        his throat, his eyes open wide as he tries to scream.        Although his mouth opens again and again, there is        no sound.        WIDE ANGLE - SLOW MOTION        With Claire asleep in the F.G., and totally oblivious        to what's happening, we watch Alex struggle with the        invisible horror.  Suddenly, the horror seems to        take on a visible entity, as a whole mist-like vapor        starts to envelope his body.  Slowly Alex' movements        begin to subside as the life is being drawn from him.        CLAIRE - CLOSE-UP - SLOW MOTION        Although still asleep, it seems as though she has        suddenly become aware of the danger,  As she opens        her eyes and tries to sit up, she is barely able to        move.  Through a tremendous effort, she is finally 177    CONTD                                      CONTD   177        able to turn her head to Alex.  WIDEN at reveal Alex,        now completely enveloped in the mist and barely        moving.  Claire tries to scream.  No sound can be        heard.  She is finally able to reach the bed table        between them and knocks over a glass.        GLASS - CLOSE-UP - SLOW MOTION        as it falls to the floor and shatters soundlessly.        PAN UP in time to see Claire finally reach a lamp,        turning it on.        WIDE ANGLE - NORMAL SPEED        as the lamp illuminates the room, ALL SOUND RETURNS.        The white mist disappears and Claire is quickly at        Alex' side.

And that's when the first part of today's quote -

Page 83/Scene 177 - Claire: 'Alex! Oh, my God, Alex!'

- is scripted to come up, followed in the script by:

Alex opens his eyes, gulping in all the air he can     handle, as he frantically gasps for breath.

And that's when the second part of today's quote -

Page 83/Scene 177 - Claire (sobbing hysterically): 'Alex! -- oh, Alex! ... Please be all right!...oh, Alex...'

- is scripted to come up.

End of sequence.

And as far as all the difference go, of which there are many, they'll wait until my next post (mostly because I haven't had lunch yet and I'm starving!  )

And what actually happens in the film's version of Scene 177:

... she sees what's happening to Alex - and after momentarily stopping dead in her tracks -

- and screaming, she reaches for the floor lamp but knocks -

- it over in her frenzy - but once she does turn -

- it on, the other light also comes back and the mist-like vapor that envelopes Alex' body -

- disappears - and as we can see in today's capture -

- she rushes to Alex side, desperately trying to revive him, until -

 - he does indeed revive. So, all that means that a lot of what's scripted to happen in Scene 177 doesn't actually happen in the film. And in some ways that's too bad because much of what was scripted would have been quite interesting to see. But who knows if things were changed because it would have been too costly or too complicated to shoot, or perhaps for some other reason? Though at least some of the planned effects were reworked and used. And actually, I think having Angelique's spirit arrive and transform into the mist-like vapor was actually better than how it was introduced in the script.

One thing that's very interesting, though, it that one can easily tell that there are three distinct cuts in the background music for Scene 177, so apparently it's quite likely that footage was removed for time during the marathon James Aubrey imposed editing. And that sort of ruins how things were to play in slow motion. But perhaps they still do in the 129 minute version...

It's interesting to note that I just checked my audio tape and the cuts to Scene 177 also appear in the 97 minute version of the film...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 177 they both start off by acknowledging that Claire screams when she sees what's happening to Alex, though they do so in different ways:

The subtitles:

The closed captioning:

And after that the subtitles acknowledge that the sound in the room is supposed to be muted -

 - though the closed captioning does not.

And going off on a bit of a tangent, I never fail to be surprised by how starkly different/off the color can sometimes be on the VHS - I mean, just look above at the screen captures of Claire screaming - and also in this scene, just look at the difference when it comes to the way Mistelique looks in the Blu-ray -

- vs. the VHS -

To be continued...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping up the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 177, after Claire is finally able to light the floor lamp and Mistelique disappears (it's definitely an interesting touch that I don't know that I've seen in anything else that a ghost must have darkness to appear and do its dirty work), as Claire makes her way to Alex and desperately tries to revive him, she laments, "Oh, my God. ... Alex! -- oh, Alex! ... Alex, please be all right!...Alex...oh, Alex...Alex!...Darling!..." - and for the most part both the subtitles and the closed captioning each reflects that, except for Claire's "Darling!" at the end - instead, both have -

- which is odd to me because it seems more than clear that she does indeed lament, "Darling!"

And after that the subtitles acknowledge that Alex begins to gasp -

 - though the closed captioning does not - and neither acknowledges Claire's sobs.

I don't think I'll ever understand why some things are acknowledged while other aren't...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's interesting to note that I just checked my audio tape and the cuts to Scene 177 also appear in the 97 minute version of the film...

A discovery I made today requires me to clarify that statement. When I listened to the audio tape, I compared it to the 94 minute VHS version of the film, and they're the same. What I didn't do is compare it to the Blu-ray version. The cuts I was referring to the other day were the cuts made for time, not the three distinct cuts in the scoring that are obvious on the Blu-ray. I didn't realize until today that just as with Scene 176, the scoring of Scene 177 plays smoothly on the VHS -

- unlike how it does on the Blu-ray and every other version -

- with the three obvious cuts in the scoring. (You can also hear Claire obviously laments, "Darling!")

And before we move on completely from Scene 177, I want to revisit:

...

And here's a rare still for Scene 177 -

(Click here for a 946X700 version)

...

 

[KMR]

One thing that's always bothered me about this scene is that the lamp beside Alex starts out being turned off, and then it seemed like a continuity error that it is on in the next shot. As many times as I've watched this movie (and it's a lot...) that's how I saw it. But now here, with the benefit of MB giving us isolated clips for intense scrutiny, I see that the lamp actually does turn on during a single shot. They have a strange electrical setup in the house so that the switch on one lamp controls both lamps.

[KMR]

Oh, and btw... "Mistelique"--I love it! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to Scene 179:

The following is a list of scenes that are still lost and which are not present in the 129 min version recovered in 1999.

...

INT.RUINED SWIMMING POOL. Quentin & Angelique make love.(Around ten seconds of this scene exists on the theatrical trailer, but the rest of the shots in the sequence are lost.)

I'm not so sure if Scene 180 is still lost or not. Scene 180 does not appear on the lost list - but that's the case with a few scenes that still may be lost. And the thing is when it comes to the Blu-ray it does seem as if there might be a cut in the background music at the point where the existing sequence in the 94 minute version of the film switches from Tracy tossing in bed (Scene 178) to her approaching the pool house (Scene 182). But that seeming cut can also be heard when it comes to the VHS, and as we've seen, most of the time that sort of thing was rescored to correct any jumpiness in the background music, but it's not when it comes to the VHS. So, maybe the way the background music plays at that transition was intentional and not due to cut footage. And once again, I don't recall if Darren ever showed a version of the sequence that included Scene 180. -

...

DISSOLVE TO: 180    INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT                       180        With the SOUNDS OF THE DREAM STILL ECHOING OVER HER        FACE, she opens her eyes.  HOLD HER IN CLOSE-UP as        she slowly sits up.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 84/Scene 180 - Tracy (trance-like): 'I won't let you have him... I won't.'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

WIDEN as she stands, crosses to the door and EXITS     THE SHOT.

...

- So who knows?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Two posts to revisit with regard to Scene 179:

As I have with other GIFs, I've made videos of the GIFs I'd originally made of the dream sequence footage from the NoDS trailers.

First up, the clip that shows the least amount of footage:

And the longest version, which also has much better color quality:

It's just too bad that it has the NoDS logo over most of it...

Here's the first of two stills I want to share for Scene 179:

First, a rare B&W still -

- which was shared on page 176 of DS Memories.

And here's another B&W still -

- which I first came across a somewhat cropped version as part of an article entitled NOSTALGIA BONUS Remember When Dark Shadows Kept You Glued To The Set from the June 1974 issue of Weekday TV (which, quite interestingly, had sections devoted to the daytime show and NoDS, but nothing from hoDS). And a much more cropped version also appears on page 9 of the booklet for the movies soundtrack.